New user interested in original project

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Raymond
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Full Name: Ramon F Herrera
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New user interested in original project

Post by Raymond »

Hello all,

My full name is Ramon F. Herrera, I am a software engineer, live in Houston, Texas.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover this great resource, thanks to everybody that has made it possible. My specific interest is the creation of a Free Open Source 3D Model of Dealey Plaza, in this website:

http://www.dealey-plaza.org/

Please watch the beginning of the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcYdiEVLc7Q

The company that performed the scanning and created the 3D models for that program very generously donated the raw output from a Leica Geosystems P20 laser scanner to my group. To be completely honest, for years such "group", was composed of one permanent person. Patience and insistence pays off and professionals of top quality have been joining this effort.

We have two needs, one immediate and one long term:

(1) The conversion of that file, 'Dealey Plaza Scan - 2013.pts' to a format usable for CAD (Blender, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, etc.) has taken more effort than I imagined. The fact that this is the first time I deal with a point cloud file is a factor, we are climbing the proverbial learning curve.

(2) After the points are extracted to higher level structures, comes the hard part: to gather a number of highly qualified, motivated 3D designers willing to work, not for the money (at the moment we have none) but for the glory. :-)

I guess that's all for now.

TIA for everything.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers
[email protected]
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gsisman
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Re: New user interested in original project

Post by gsisman »

Raymond wrote: Sun Aug 26, 2018 12:27 am Hello all,

My full name is Ramon F. Herrera, I am a software engineer, live in Houston, Texas.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover this great resource, thanks to everybody that has made it possible. My specific interest is the creation of a Free Open Source 3D Model of Dealey Plaza, in this website:

http://www.dealey-plaza.org/

Please watch the beginning of the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcYdiEVLc7Q

The company that performed the scanning and created the 3D models for that program very generously donated the raw output from a Leica Geosystems P20 laser scanner to my group. To be completely honest, for years such "group", was composed of one permanent person. Patience and insistence pays off and professionals of top quality have been joining this effort.

We have two needs, one immediate and one long term:

(1) The conversion of that file, 'Dealey Plaza Scan - 2013.pts' to a format usable for CAD (Blender, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, etc.) has taken more effort than I imagined. The fact that this is the first time I deal with a point cloud file is a factor, we are climbing the proverbial learning curve.

(2) After the points are extracted to higher level structures, comes the hard part: to gather a number of highly qualified, motivated 3D designers willing to work, not for the money (at the moment we have none) but for the glory. :-)

I guess that's all for now.

TIA for everything.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers
[email protected]
Ramon,

We may be able to turn your .pts file into a Jetstream file that will then be able to be worked with in Cloudworx ,a plug-in for all Autodesk products. The pts format is large ,cumbersome and “dumb” so to speak with a lot of the additional scanner data that is helpful to edit left out. That being said the Jetstream server format is about 10% the size of the traditional Leica .imp files so easier to work with and regenerate in CAD/ Revit/ other modeling packages. You need a license of Jetstream Enterprise to serve out the Jetstream format to Autodesk or other modeling programs, though. We could also turn it into an .RCP format which is Autodesk’s working format for ReCAP Pro ($650/yr subscription)
https://leica-geosystems.com/products/l ... -jetstream
Raymond
I have made 70-80 posts
I have made 70-80 posts
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:15 pm
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Full Name: Ramon F Herrera
Company Details: Free Open Source3D Model of Dealey Plaza
Company Position Title: Founder - Chief Bottle Washer
Country: US
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Houston, Texas
Has thanked: 8 times
Contact:

Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Raymond »

gsisman wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:27 am
Ramon,

We may be able to turn your .pts file into a Jetstream file that will then be able to be worked with in Cloudworx ,a plug-in for all Autodesk products. The pts format is large ,cumbersome and “dumb” so to speak with a lot of the additional scanner data that is helpful to edit left out. That being said the Jetstream server format is about 10% the size of the traditional Leica .imp files so easier to work with and regenerate in CAD/ Revit/ other modeling packages. You need a license of Jetstream Enterprise to serve out the Jetstream format to Autodesk or other modeling programs, though. We could also turn it into an .RCP format which is Autodesk’s working format for ReCAP Pro ($650/yr subscription)
https://leica-geosystems.com/products/l ... -jetstream
This is great! In the last few days the average number of people that have volunteered to help is 1/day. For comparison, it was 1/year and everybody ended up resigning in frustration due to the lack of accurate measurements.

Just send me an e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected] (or post your e-mail here) and I will provide the Dropbox link that I was given by the company that performed the 3D modeling and animation for the PBS program.

I hope that soon I will simply post that link in this and other forums. Everything is happening so fast that I need to clarify details with that company.

Suffice to say that their head designer is my greatest hero in a very, very long time. Not only donated that file to my 1-person Not-for-Profit entity (JFK Numbers, incorporated where else? In Texas) but has also been providing guidance and something priceless: moral support.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers
Last edited by Raymond on Sat Sep 01, 2018 3:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New user interested in original project

Post by gsisman »

Raymond wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 2:21 am
gsisman wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:27 am
Ramon,

We may be able to turn your .pts file into a Jetstream file that will then be able to be worked with in Cloudworx ,a plug-in for all Autodesk products. The pts format is large ,cumbersome and “dumb” so to speak with a lot of the additional scanner data that is helpful to edit left out. That being said the Jetstream server format is about 10% the size of the traditional Leica .imp files so easier to work with and regenerate in CAD/ Revit/ other modeling packages. You need a license of Jetstream Enterprise to serve out the Jetstream format to Autodesk or other modeling programs, though. We could also turn it into an .RCP format which is Autodesk’s working format for ReCAP Pro ($650/yr subscription)
https://leica-geosystems.com/products/l ... -jetstream
This is great! In the last few days the average number of people that have volunteered to help is 1/day. For comparison, it was 1/year and everybody ended up resigning in frustration due to the lack of accurate measurements.

Just send me an e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected] (or post your e-mail here) and I will provide the Dropbox link that I was given by the company that performed the 3D modeling and animation for the PBS program.

I hope that soon I will simply post that link in this and other forums. Everything is happening so fast that I need to clarify details with that company.

Suffice to say that their head designer is my greatest hero is a very, very long time. Not only donated that file to my 1-person Not-for-Profit entity (JFK Numbers, incorporated where else? In Texas) but has also been providing guidance and something priceless: moral support.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers
Is there a way you could possibly get an e 57 file from that company that gave you the pts file?
It would be much more useful and easier to convert to a jetstream or recap. So also several free viewers that you can look at the point clouds in as long as you have the correct format we can get into almost any format including one that John Hopkins Applied Physics lab has called QT modeler (Applied Imagery)
http://appliedimagery.com/
Raymond
I have made 70-80 posts
I have made 70-80 posts
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:15 pm
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Full Name: Ramon F Herrera
Company Details: Free Open Source3D Model of Dealey Plaza
Company Position Title: Founder - Chief Bottle Washer
Country: US
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Houston, Texas
Has thanked: 8 times
Contact:

Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Raymond »

gsisman wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:16 am Is there a way you could possibly get an e 57 file from that company that gave you the pts file?
It would be much more useful and easier to convert to a jetstream or recap. So also several free viewers that you can look at the point clouds in as long as you have the correct format we can get into almost any format including one that John Hopkins Applied Physics lab has called QT modeler (Applied Imagery)
http://appliedimagery.com/
Hi Steve:

I have never dealt with e57 files, but I just looked it up. International Standard ASTM E2807. Good.

The chief designer from the company that gave me the pts file has been very kind and supportive. Will ask him for a 'Dealey Plaza Scan - 2013.e57' file ...

I just requested the QT Modeler Free License as well.

Thanks so much!

-Ramon
JFK Numbers
Dirkie2710
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Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Dirkie2710 »

Hey,

I would be willing to help. I didn't read the entire thread word for word, but can do a lot I think.

Send me a PM or email and can discuss how I can help

Dirk
Raymond
I have made 70-80 posts
I have made 70-80 posts
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:15 pm
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Full Name: Ramon F Herrera
Company Details: Free Open Source3D Model of Dealey Plaza
Company Position Title: Founder - Chief Bottle Washer
Country: US
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Houston, Texas
Has thanked: 8 times
Contact:

Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Raymond »

Dirkie2710 wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:48 am Hey,
I would be willing to help. I didn't read the entire thread word for word, but can do a lot I think.
Send me a PM or email and can discuss how I can help
Dirk
That is music to my ears, Dirk. You would be the 2nd. qualified professional that I have found (have I said lately that this is the greatest forum on the Internet? :-) here, willing to join this project.

This is the up-to-date situation: I was told by the guy who did the 3D work for PBS NOVA that the north and west sides of the building (*) were not scanned so we were planning to hire a company to cover only that. However, I am having 2nd. thoughts about "stitching" together 2 point clouds collected 5 years apart, one made with a Leica P20 and the other (hopefully soon) with a P40.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers

(*) Previously known as TSBD or Texas School Book Depository. Today it hosts the Dallas County Offices and the Sixth Floor Museum.

http://dealeyplaza.org/

Years ago, they were planning to razor it to the ground but the national uproar prevented them. In renovations they have been pressured into keeping the windows, etc. exactly in the location they were in 1963. One difference is that today the street asphalt is thicker.
Last edited by Raymond on Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:51 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Dirkie2710
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Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Dirkie2710 »

hey i watched the youtube vid after i posted the reply.

I can do the modeling if you want me to. Between real work (of which most is for another guy is Houston actually) I have about 60 hours of free time a month so can probably spend that to model (in Revit, or just tell me which you prefer) the scans if that's what you want.

And the asphalt has probably changed a number of times since 1963.

Might be worth while to consider looking at footage from circa 1963 to confirm what has and what hasn't changed (grass embankments, obviously trees have grown, are there new trees etc?)

So if you have the .pts file I'm happy to have look. Tell me what you actually want done and I'll see what I can do.

Converting the .pts is the easy part. Question is what is the need for the file to be used in Rhino, C4D etc?

Cheers
Raymond
I have made 70-80 posts
I have made 70-80 posts
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:15 pm
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Full Name: Ramon F Herrera
Company Details: Free Open Source3D Model of Dealey Plaza
Company Position Title: Founder - Chief Bottle Washer
Country: US
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Houston, Texas
Has thanked: 8 times
Contact:

Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Raymond »

Dirkie2710 wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 3:51 pm So if you have the .pts file I'm happy to have look. Tell me what you actually want done and I'll see what I can do.
It is already in your PM box.

Question for everybody: just like there is a way to measure resolution in two dimensions: 300 dpi (or more precisely 300x300 dots per square inch), there should be some way to measure the resolution of the .pts file that I have. The units would be "average number of points per cubic meter" or something like that.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers
Last edited by Raymond on Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Raymond
I have made 70-80 posts
I have made 70-80 posts
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:15 pm
5
Full Name: Ramon F Herrera
Company Details: Free Open Source3D Model of Dealey Plaza
Company Position Title: Founder - Chief Bottle Washer
Country: US
Linkedin Profile: Yes
Location: Houston, Texas
Has thanked: 8 times
Contact:

Re: New user interested in original project

Post by Raymond »

Dirkie2710 wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 3:51 pm Might be worth while to consider looking at footage from circa 1963 to confirm what has and what hasn't changed (grass embankments, obviously trees have grown, are there new trees etc?)

Check out the files that gave birth to this project, I used to call that Google drive "A poor man's website".

https://goo.gl/MC3k9t

In addition to what you see there we have the following actual and potential sources of still photos and footage:

(1) Rex Bradford, who singled handedly (in almost virtual anonymity) maintains four JFK related sites has joined this project with enthusiasm. He in very interested in the Acoustics Section. His main site is the Mary Ferrell Foundation:

https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Main_Page.html

Rex and I have agreed to have cross-links: you will click on an old B&W grainy photo of the Coke machine and you will be magically transported to the upcoming site where you will be able to see the 3D model of that machine (I have the blueprints, people collect those). Talk about Back to the Future...

I was under the impression that Mary Ferrell was a millionaire or something, when I saw a picture of her humble, middle class home, after she died I was in awe. She lived in Dallas, on 22-Nov-63 she asked her children to go buy all the newspapers and that became her lifelong mission. All her records, more than a million pages were scanned. A wealthy individual -don't have his name at hand- financed the operation.

(2) A lot of those images are the property of Corvis, a company owned by Bill Gates. They have a program for Not-for-Profit institutions being able to use their material free of charge.

(3) There was a YouTube videoclip (which I cannot find anymore, damn!) from a TV program, where a member of the staff from one of the networks (I think it was NBC but CBS and ABC are possible) showed a deposit, for that specific purpose in the basement of the TV station where they keep tons of material from those days. All those stations, plus PBS should be contacted, not to mention print media.

As you can see the possibilities for volunteering are plentiful.

-Ramon
JFK Numbers

ps: If you look closely in the top link, in addition to seeing that the storm drain aperture is narrower today, you will notice that in 1963 the manhole cover letters were are a mix of clockwise and counterclockwise while today they are uniform. We should hold a contest to see who can spot that kind of stuff.
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